Technology defining new horizons for employee learning

Like every other domain, technology has disrupted the Learning and Development sphere too. The means and modes of employee learning have evolved to a level where self-learning is being promoted rather than traditional classroom approach.

To take a stock of how India Inc. is adopting new learning methods, TimesJobs recently hosted a boardroom session with the corporate big wigs. Excerpts:
Anand SM, Head - Learning & Development, Human Resources, Societe Generale "Customisation has become important in the learning sphere. When training a new group of employees belonging to IT and non-IT departments, only some segments can be common. In that segment too, there would be employees looking for 'something similar', not the same thing. Hence customisation is needed."
Madhvi Arora, Vice President and Head Human Resources, Yodlee "We face two distinct groups of employees - one, who are freshers who are being trained on different tasks and are willing to learn continuously. Then questions about using knowledge real time and ROI from learning stems up. The other group is that of seasoned professionals, who may ask ‘why should we attend trainings’? Dealing with both is challenging."
Ayyappa S Kushalappa, HR Director - learning, IBM India/South Asia"The concept of batch process is passé now. The need of the time is customization for sure. Another concern are the skills that employees possess presently and skills that would be needed for future. Also, the pace at which this change is happening is rapid, and it is alarming."

Pradipta Bannerji, Vice President - Human Resources, CGI"We are trying to get away from the classical mode of training and embracing the digital way. We allow people to learn and at certain point of time, we assess them and benchmark the level of their learning. We are moving away from a system of having a batch of employees go through classroom sessions."

Jeyakkumaran Subburaj, Head - HR, India, Misys "We have a different approach for campus hiring. We go to colleges a year in advance. We speak to students about the technologies that we use and we encourage them to learn those. When these students join us later we are saved from putting them through generic Trainings."
Sunitha RM, Head - Talent Acquisition, Mphasis "We want employees to be productive from first day. Hence, we also go to colleges in advance and provide training material to them on technologies or skills that we seek. We have a team that works in close tandem with colleges and help them get familiar with our business and needs."
Bhanu Patnaik, Head of Talent Acquisition & Learning Development, Happiest Minds"Learning typically has two aspects - first is 'what do I want to learn' and the other is organisation's approach about 'what do we want our employees to learn'. To address this, we provide all learning materials to our employees online and empower them to learn themselves."

Warner Jude, Associate Director - Talent acquisition, Cognizant "Learning has become a crucial element today, especially in the technology companies. With time, one has to evolve his skill set, upgrade himself and be relevant in the changing times. The modes and methods may change but the concept of learning will remain."

Manjunath Aradhya, Founder Chairman, Aradhya Group "Now that the corporate world and its requirements have changed the academic institutions too are changing their approach. Many finishing schools now prompt engineering students to ramp up their basics and concepts to match to the real world scenarios."